MONTEREY, Tenn. (WTVF) — Last week, Perdue Farms announced they would be closing their massive chicken processing plant in Monterey. All 433 employees will lose their jobs.
"Some people were kind of upset, some broke down and started to cry," said Synthia Allen, a longtime Perdue employee. "I just stood there. I wasn’t even sure what to think."
Allen worked there for nearly 41 years and was just months shy of submitting her retirement paperwork. She has savings. Many of her colleagues do not. "You’ve got married couples there, they’re losing both checks. You’ve got single families, just a mother with kids or a father with kids," said Allen.
If employees are willing to stay on until the plant closes, they will receive a severance package from Perdue. The company told employees last week, that "adverse market conditions" forced them to close the Monterey plant.
A community in crisis
Not only was Perdue Farms the largest employer in the small town of Monterey, but they also used the most utilities, they paid the most property taxes and they kept a lot of residents living close by. "Everybody runs there and gets their groceries before they go home. You take 400-something people, that’s going to hurt the town of Monterey," said Allen.
Rafferty Cleary's job title is Cultural Administrator for the Town of Monterey, but he's the first to admit, that he has a lot of other duties assigned in that role. He says the Perdue closure could have a huge impact on the small town of about 2,700 residents. "From a town standpoint, our success sort of depends on Perdue’s success," said Cleary.
He says, that almost immediately, town, county, state, and federal leaders reached out about ways to help Monterey and everyone impacted by this sudden closure. "Within minutes, emails are just spewing out. How are we going to help these employees?" said Cleary.
Cleary says a task force is forming to help the employees who lost their jobs and immediately search for a new company to come and call Monterey home. "It’ll be a daunting couple of months or however long it takes, but there will be a solution to this," he said.
A history of survival
If Monterey's Depot Museum is any guide, the town will find a way to survive. "Over the years, it’s grown into sort of a local and regional history hub," said Cleary.
The space tells the story of how Monterey, gained population from nearby coal mines and then later thrived as a Cumberland Plateau resort town. "From the early 1900s to the 20s and 30s, there were seven hotels that operated at one time in this town," said Cleary. "Folks would take the train from Nashville here to Monterey and spend the entire summer up here. Cleaner air, mineral springs."
Even when that travel trend ended and interstates replaced passenger rail, Monterey has found a way to survive. He hopes the same can be said for this next challenge the town faces. "There is evidence in this room that solutions are out there for challenging times," said Cleary.
"I hope they can get something in here. I’m sure that’s going to be a while," said Allen, a lifelong resident of Monterey. "I just hope they do."
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com.
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